sked why he had come to
the Hall of Truth, and the deceased replied that he had come in order to
be "mentioned" to the god. Thoth then asked him, "Who is he whose heaven
is fire, whose walls are serpents, and the floor of whose house is a
stream of water?" The deceased replied, "Osiris"; and he was then bidden
to advance so that he might be introduced to Osiris. As a reward for his
righteous life sacred food, which proceeded from the Eye of Ra, was
allotted to him, and, living on the food of the god, he became a
counterpart of the god.

From first to last the Book of the Dead is filled with spells and
prayers for the preservation of the mummy and for everlasting life. As
instances of these the following passages are quoted from Chapters 154
and 175. "Homage to thee, O my divine father Osiris, thou livest with
thy members. Thou didst not decay. Thou didst not turn into worms. Thou
didst not waste away. Thou didst not suffer corruption. Thou didst not
putrefy. I am the god Khepera, and my members shall have an everlasting
existence. I shall not decay. I shall not rot. I shall not putrefy. I
shall not turn into worms. I shall not see corruption before the eye of
the god Shu. I shall have my being, I shall have my being. I shall live,
I shall live. I shall flourish, I shall flourish. I shall wake up in
peace. I shall not putrefy. My inward parts shall not perish. I shall
not suffer injury. Mine eye shall not decay. The form of my visage shall
not disappear. Mine ear shall not become deaf. My head shall not be
separated from my neck. My tongue shall not be carried away. My hair
shall not be cut off. Mine eyebrows shall not be shaved off. No baleful
injury shall come upon me. My body shall be established, and it shall
neither crumble away nor be destroyed on this earth." The passage that
refers to everlasting life occurs in Chapter 175, wherein the scribe
Ani is made to converse with Thoth and Temu in the Tuat, or Other World.
Ani, who is supposed to have recently arrived there, says: "What manner
of country is this to which I have come? There is no water in it. There
is no air. It is depth unfathomable, it is black as the blackest night,
and men wander helplessly therein. In it a man may not live in quietness
of heart; nor may the affections be gratified therein." After a short
address to Osiris, the deceased asks the god, "How long shall I live?"
And the god says, "It is decreed that thou shalt live for millions of
millions